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We often hear AR teams complain about the difficulty getting full team participation in their Analyst Relationship Management (ARM) application. It seems that some team members don’t appreciate the value or perhaps are not sufficiently trained. When only part of the data is entered it limits the ability to generate metrics or encourage good collaboration.

Dave was speaking with the CTO of ARInsights the other day during one of the periodic calls we have with them about ways their product can more effectively manage an AR program. The discussion was about their soon to be released Add-In for Outlook 2007. Just as with the 2003 version this code helps to integrate their ARchitect product into the normal work day and automate data entry.

If you send an email to one or more analysts, even using blind carbons, the integration allows you to create an interaction and post the data directly into the ARM. This makes tracking activity such as sending out quarterly earnings, press releases, or simple exchanges very easy. You can also track your email threads automatically – allowing team members to know about activity with analysts you have in common.

Forward planning is critical for an effective AR program. Integration between your Outlook calendar and ARchitect enables you to easily create future interactions, add then to your personal Outlook, log them to ARchitect, and display them on a calendar that is easily visible to all team members. For managers this is a great way to review team resources and understand how to shift priorities to the most important activities.

The key to a good ARM is integrating it into the daily routine. Teams need to establish simple and actionable standards that result in getting more value output from the ARM than the input effort. When a process delivers high value it is much easier to gain full team participation. Tools like this Outlook Add-In are one way to improve your processes.

SageCircle Technique:

Review the goals and processes of your AR program periodically to be sure you are properly focused

Consider how your tracking process can be simplified to encourage full team participation

Schedule a short time segment during each staff meeting to discuss your tracking and metrics

Plan an extended session at least once a year to review your overall tracking and metrics process with a goal of automation and increased efficiency.

Encourage team participation with a simple form of acknowledgement or reward.

Bottom Line: A well implemented Analyst Relationship Management System can produce more value that the effort required to input data and be the foundation for team collaboration.

Question: How do you measure the effectiveness of your analyst tracking?

SageCircle Clients will find more information about ARMs in the Online SageContent Library and may schedule an inquiry to discuss other ways to encourage team participation.